1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to railroad trains and, more particularly, to collision safety equipment located at the front of the railroad train.
2. Description of Related Art
A railroad train at full speed is difficult to stop and of course cannot be steered to avoid a collision with a pedestrian or motor vehicle. Most railroad trains are also extremely heavy relative to a motor vehicle, even a truck or bus. The front or leading train car, for example a locomotive of a train, is typically constructed of a large rigid steel structure and significantly outweighs anything likely to cross a railroad track. Because of this, emphasis to date has been on preventing pedestrians and motor vehicles from crossing or stopping on railroad tracks in the path of an oncoming train. However, collisions between pedestrians or motor vehicles with trains are still a significant problem and often result in fatalities for the pedestrians or for the occupants of the motor vehicles.
Current collision prevention efforts include warning devices on each train such as horns and lights, and warnings and barriers at railway and pedestrian or motor vehicle crossings. Also, fencing is typically used along railroad right of ways to restrict access by pedestrians and/or motor vehicles. Unfortunately, pedestrians and drivers accidentally miss, ignore, or deliberately circumvent these warning systems.
An exemplar of a prior device for reducing the severity of injuries in accidents between a compact vehicle and a pedestrian is U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,427 to Hartmann et al.
Prior devices for prior crash attenuating the energy of impact between a truck and another motor vehicle are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,697,657 to Unrath, Sr., 5,199,755 to Gertz, and 5,052,732 to Oplet et al.
In summary, one aspect of the present invention is directed to a train collision attenuator mounted on a leading end of a train for attenuating the force of impact between a moving train and a pedestrian. The includes an energy absorbing assembly and a mounting assembly. The energy absorbing assembly includes a leading surface and the energy absorbing assembly is dimensioned and configured for attenuating the force of impact between the moving train and the pedestrian located in the path of the moving train as the pedestrian impacts against the leading surface. The mounting assembly secures the energy absorbing assembly to the leading end of the train.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a lifting mechanism for moving the energy absorbing assembly between a deployed position to a retracted position.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a selectively-inflatable, externally-mounted airbag including an upper pedestrian cushioning portion and a lower pedestrian support portion.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to an energy absorbing hydraulic cylinder and a vehicle contact plate mounted on the hydraulic cylinder piston.
An object of the present invention is to reduce the severity of train collisions with pedestrians and motor vehicles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for attenuating the force of impact between a moving train and a pedestrian.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for attenuating the force of impact between a moving train and another vehicle.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.